25 The Queens Journey, pt. 5.5 (1/2)

After the latest encounter with the Griffins, the group continued their journey.

With three days left before they could reach the capital, they stumbled upon a bit of good luck.

Jin glanced out through the open cart side and rubbed his eyes. He had to have been seeing things. There were palm trees with strange fruits hanging high. The carriage rolled underneath, bathing in the shade they provided.

The air got slightly more humid than it had been in the Diamond Plains, and before long, Jin felt as though he'd returned to the forest he'd promised to escape.

”Nova is known for its weird landscape.” Theresa said beside him.

”Yeah, no kidding.” Jin replied.

”One second, you're struggling to find any water at all, the next…” She subtly told Jin to peek out the cart. When he did, his jaw dropped. ”… all you see is blue.”

She wasn't joking. The land to the left of the road appeared to have almost disappeared, and now, all Jin could see was water.

One large body of water flowing between valleys and mountains, all leading to a blue expanse that left Jin speechless.

From in front of him, he saw Mariana curiously tilt her head in the same direction and soon enough, she was sharing Jin's amazement.

He didn't see it coming, but Ker'Tallen and Decena both had the same reaction when they saw it.

As Jin returned his attention to the inside of the cart, for a moment, he felt sad that the woman he had never met but knew as his mother was not given the chance to see this.

Well, that's why he's here, he figured.

Eventually, the cart came to a stop. Jin hopped out and had to actively contain his urge to go watch the water to their left.

Olyneces stepped out of the queen's cart.

”The queen has demanded that we take a moment to gather our bearings.” Olyneces paused for a moment. He opened his mouth to continue but before he did, Jin saw him shake his head, cover his eyes and mutter something.

Tracing his line of sight, he turned and found Theresa had taken her shirt off, showcasing elegant, milk skin cut into a combination of two breasts and rock-hard abs.

”Decency. What's that?” Decena said, shaking her head.

The pale-skinned elf grinned at them.

”If you need me, I'll be at the lake.” She turned to leave, but not before catching Jin staring at her. When their eyes met, she winked at him. Uh, okay? Jin tilted his head. For some reason though, the sight made him feel… Warm.

Mariana looked down at her own black shirt and grabbed it by the edge, likely about to repeat Theresa's example, which caused Decena to leap towards her.

”No! No, no no.” She shook her head vehemently. ”Don't let that idiot influence you.”

Jin heard Ker'Tallen sigh beside him.

”Well, no need to waste our own time. Jin, would you like to train for a moment?”

Jin nodded and quickly went to grab his sword, wanting to do something with this apparent extra time.

Decena's POV

The redhead walked through a bed of fallen leaves, following a stream of light that stabbed through the palm trees giving this place its shade.

A sound had caught her attention. The others hadn't heard it, but she had.

Deciding that it wasn't likely to be important enough to tell the others about it, she navigated the forest to find it.

Eventually, she discovered the object of her curiosity. It was a small silhouette hunched over a small hill.

Dark grey hair glazed amethyst eyes cast down at the grass beneath them. Even in sadness, the princess looked regal.

Decena approached her.

”Kind of quiet out here?” Great opener there, Decena. She scolded herself. Why don't you tell her how cool the weather looks while you're at it?

”What?” Eliara raised her head, clearly not expecting any company. ”Uh, yeah. Sure.”

Decena raised an eyebrow, before walking up to her. Why am I even doing this? She asked herself.

”Come on. What's wrong?” She asked.

”Why do you care?” Eliara quickly replied. If Decena had heard the same response a month ago, she'd have just stood up and left.

”Because if you go out in the field, as you insist on doing, with a lot weighing on you, you'll mess up. Trust me, having a clear head does wonders. So, come on. What's up?”

Eliara looked at her for a second, before turning in the other direction. This time, Decena was about to stand and leave, but Eliara gave a solemn exhale.

”I don't get it.” She simply said.

”What?”

”I don't get it.” Eliara reaffirmed. ”I know I'm good. I've been studying Light Magic since I was a kid.”

Decena pinched herself when she felt compelled to answer, 'you still are a kid, though.' Even though they were around the same age, if she remembered correctly, her being eighteen and Eliara being fifteen.

”Not just that,” Eliara continued, ”but, it's been my dream for a long time to be out there, helping people. And the one time I get to show myself off, I cost a lot of people their lives.” Eliara's voice trembled at the end.

Decena leaned back and gazed up at the cloudy sky.

”Listen,” She started, ”your only mistake was thinking you were going to be great from the start. Regular people aren't like that. Those prodigies just don't come around anymore. You're going to lose a lot more often than you win, that's just how things are. If you want to be out there on the field, you have to be used to that.”

Decena shrugged and Eliara began fidgeting with her fingers.

”So, you think I should just stay in the cart with my mother?” Eliara hissed out.

”Not at all. I just think, maybe, you should lower your expectations a little. Then, maybe once you've had a few fights under your belt, you'll be the person you've known you could be.” Eliara looked up at Decena with glittering eyes. An act that made Decena's cheeks turn red. ”A-Anyway, let's go back to the camp. Her grace is probably worried sick about you.”

Mariana's POV

Otro día ha pasado con estas personas extrañas. Pero, por otro día, sigo viva. No se cuanta más falta para que se acabe esta aventura, pero seguiré tratando, y te prometo que volveré con el dinero que necesitamos, madre.